


let's talk business

by smallcuts



Category: American Housewife (TV)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Relationship, Season/Series 05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29714340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallcuts/pseuds/smallcuts
Summary: Oliver has to convince Trevor into letting Cooper join Gyftee.
Relationships: Cooper Bradford/Oliver Otto
Comments: 12
Kudos: 24





	let's talk business

Cooper better thank his lucky stars that he’s Oliver’s best friend, roommate, confidante, main man, etcetera and the fact that he’s so goddamn hard to say no to (personally, Oliver blames Cooper’s dumb smile) because he’s currently standing outside of Trevor’s front door, dread pooling in his stomach at the thought of his business partner answering. His total and utter _asswipe_ of a business partner.

It’s who he assumes to be Trevor’s mother who answers instead, greeting him with a cordial smile before her eyes narrow in recognition, shoulders squared. “Aren’t you Katie Otto’s son?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She purses her mouth in clear disapproval but shuffles aside anyway, shouting for Trevor to come downstairs. She exits the room having satisfied her scrutiny of Oliver, which he thinks makes no sense. Don’t trust someone but then immediately leave them alone in your house? Not that he would touch anything in here—for all he knows, Trevor could have placed a curse on the entire house. He wouldn’t put it past the guy.

“What the hell do you want? We’re not meeting until tomorrow,” says an irate Trevor from the bottom of the steps, leaning against the handrail. He crosses his arms as he frowns at Oliver, and suddenly he understands exactly which parent Trevor inherited that icy glare from.

“Um, so, I have a small change in mind and I thought I should run it by you first,” he starts, shoving his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t have visible recognition of how clammy they are.

“Save your question because the answer’s already no.”

Oliver groans because of course, Trevor isn’t going to make this discussion easy. He never does. If Oliver wasn’t so desperate to attend Harvard, he’d have cut the other boy out of his life months ago. As it stands, he needs Trevor though so he inhales deeply through his nose to calm himself down, get a little blood pumping to the brain. Tries to think of how to frame his question in a manner that implies that he doesn’t just want Cooper in Gyftee for his own enjoyment.

“Come on, let’s talk man to man.”

“I already said no,” replies Trevor, pointing at the front door. “This is your cue to leave.”

Oliver stays rooted to the spot, reminds himself of how _happy_ Cooper’s going to be when he gets home and gives him the good news, thinks of the airy feeling in his chest when Cooper smiles at him with a brightness rivaling the sun. “Listen, it’s about Cooper. He wants to join the company.”

“Bradford?” Trevor stops, looking vaguely interested now. “Like, as an investor?”

Now that Trevor has planted that possibility in his head, he kicks himself for not proposing that idea to Cooper prior to the boy disposing of all of his credit cards. Maybe they would have had some real traction as a company outside of the smattering of followers they have on their assortment of social media pages.

“No, just, um, as…” He flounders, racking his brain for a solid reason Cooper could join the company but he continuously draws blanks, wheels spinning uselessly. “I don’t know,” he finishes lamely.

“You don’t know.” Trevor’s flat tone of voice makes him feel even worse.

“He wants to join but he doesn’t have to do anything! We could make him like a, like a…” Oliver could mentally kick himself for not having rehearsed a speech earlier. In his defense, beating Cooper’s ass at Mario Kart had been higher on his list of priorities. “Our secretary? Kind of.”

“You are aware that we don’t _need_ a secretary?” says Trevor hardly a beat after Oliver ceases speaking. He wonders if Trevor was just born with an inherent level of snark or if he regularly practices being this much of a _fucking twat_.

“Trevor, come on. Do me a solid here,” replies Oliver with a slight whine because to hell with dealing with Trevor with a level of professionalism. He isn’t leaving this household without Trevor’s approval and he doesn’t care how annoying he has to be to get his way.

“Why would I do anything for you?”

Ouch. Oliver swallows his growing irritation and plasters the best smile he can muster up on his face, though he’s sure it resembles more of a grimace. “Okay, he asked me, and I _may_ have promised that he’d be able to join.”

Trevor raises a judgmental eyebrow at him, tapping his foot at a pace that disjointedly speeds up as Oliver babbles on about not letting down his best friend in the world and having a heart; The words all blur together at some point, halted only when Trevor tells him to shut up.

“I’m not happy about it, but I know you like him,” says Trevor.

“You’re required to like your best friend, yes.”

Trevor rolls his eyes at that, though Oliver thinks he spots the hint of a smile playing at the corner of his lips. It could just as easily have been a mirage. “Yeah, tell your boyfriend he can hang around. He better not be disruptive at all though or you’re _both_ out.”

Oliver thanks him before his brain fully connects to his mouth. “He’s _not_ my boyfriend,” he indignantly sputters out a tick later.

“But you wish he was,” says Trevor, an all-knowing and shit-eating grin flaunted on his features. Oliver is overcome with the impulse to slap it off.

“I’m not having this discussion with you,” says Oliver as he marches toward the door. His mission is accomplished, albeit in a roundabout direction. He hopes Trevor doesn’t let on to Cooper that he only let him join because he thinks they should be dating—it’s a thought rooted in paranoia, namely because Trevor despises Cooper about as much as he does Oliver, and thus, probably wouldn’t talk to him.

“See you and your boyfriend tomorrow!” Trevor calls out as Oliver slams the door behind him, all too eager to retreat to the safety of his own household. Trevor doesn’t know how right he is—The very thought would make him grit his teeth if he didn’t also recall that Cooper’s waiting for him at home right now, and just like that, his spiteful mood vanishes.

**Author's Note:**

> very short drabble i know but i literally couldn't stop thinking about this after trevor asked if they were going to break up lol
> 
> more fics on the way soon hopefully!


End file.
